Together
by Hallawe
Summary: Set five years after the conclusion of the books, Percy is finally going to marry Annabeth but the course of true love was never easy.
1. Chapter 1: Olympus

This is the product of an idea that popped into my head while I was reading the Percy Jackson series. Most of it is already written (it will be five chapters long) but I am still trying to tighten up the ending a little bit so I am just going to post the first two chapters for now. I should point out, for those readers who may notice, that I do not make any claims for accuracy of the spelling of proper nouns in this story. Most of them are pretty straight forward but a few had many variant spellings (Kronos? Cronos? Cronus?). I double-checked when I could but I do not know which spelling Mr. Riordan chose because I did not read the books; I listened to the audiobooks. My apologies if I have misspelled the name of your favourite character.

And, of course, what fanfic can start without the usual litany of pseudo legal cautions: The characters in this story are from Rick Riordan's Percy Jackson books and were not created by me nor do I own them. Any resemblance of characters or events in this story to real life is purely coincidental. No animals were harmed in the creation of this story.

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**Chapter 1 – Olympus **

I walked through the revolving doors…no, that's not right…I had to push my way through the revolving doors of the Empire State Building into a lobby packed with people. I stopped just inside the doors, staring at all the people, and quickly got pushed to the side, out of the way of the flow of people. Camera-toting tourists milled about staring at everything and snapping pictures of each other. Businesspeople in suits and sharp dress strode briskly through the lobby or stood outside of elevators tapping their toes and checking their watches. I had never been here before in the middle of the afternoon and I guess I had not been expecting all the people. True, a bunch of my friends and I had set up a war camp here when Kronos was attacking Manhattan but since all the mortals were under a sleeping spell at the time that hardly counted.

I began to make my way through the crowd toward the desk. Usually when I came here I could hear my footsteps echoing on the tile. Right now all I could hear was the loud white noise that many voices all talking at once make. I didn't like it; it made me nervous. As a demigod, I generally avoid large crowds unless I am trying to hide. They make it too hard to tell when a monster is around. Of course, if there was any place in America that would be monster-free it would be here. Not that that meant I was safe. All it meant was that if anybody killed me they would immortal, all-powerful, and would not even think twice about crushing me like a bug.

I had not had many dealings with the gods since I fulfilled the last Great Prophecy five years ago. I saw my dad, Poseidon—you know, the god of the sea—from time to time. And of course I knew Ares kept an eye on me even though I rarely ran into him personally. He never had forgiven me for fighting him ten years ago at the end of my first quest. His children made sure I knew that. Mostly, though, I only saw the gods when they would invite some of the campers at Camp Half-Blood to the Winter Solstice meeting or if I happened to run into one them when I was visiting Annabeth.

Annabeth had been spending a lot of time on Olympus ever since the gods appointed her chief architect in charge of rebuilding it after Kronos' attack. I was happy for her but I did not like that she spent so much time away from camp. On the plus side, I liked that I could come and visit just because I missed her. Five years ago I would have had to wait until I had an excuse (however flimsy it might have been) and, of course, telling her that I missed her would have been unthinkable. It was a lot easier since we admitted we liked each other.

I had not been to Olympus in a while because the rebuilding was nearly done and Annabeth spent more time back at camp now. Actually, I was not going to Olympus to see Annabeth today. She was back at camp; I had gone home to see my mom and Paul, my step-dad, for a bit but I had not told Annabeth that I would be stopping at Olympus before I came back to camp. If I had, I knew she would want to come here but this was something I needed to do alone.

When I reached the front desk, I told the guard on duty that I needed to go to the 600th floor and waited. I had been to Olympus enough recently that I knew the guard recognized me but I also knew we had to go through the ritual.

"We only got a hundred 'n twenty floors, boy."

I showed him my key card, a special pass Annabeth had been able to get for me so I would not have to make appointments every time I wanted to come and see her. The guard sighed and waved me over to the elevator. Inside the elevator I put my key card in the slot and the elevator started up to Olympus. I wondered if Annabeth could do anything about the elevator music. Over the years it only seemed to get worse. Today it was playing something noisy that sounded like it was from some '90s boy band. The ADHD part of my brain wondered why Zeus would punish Dionysus for chasing after a wood nymph but never did anything to Apollo for letting his sons create boy bands.

When the doors opened onto Olympus, I felt my breath catch in my throat. Last time I had been here everything had still had scaffolding and construction material piled all around it. Now it looked just about finished and it was pretty amazing. Annabeth had worked with some of greatest architects and builders of history to make the new Olympus a truly wondrous sight. She had scoured the laptop Daedalus had left her and made buildings and temples that looked as though they should not be possible. Lush gardens blessed by Demeter herself sprung straight out of the stone. Parks were lit during the day by diamonds which held captured sunlight and pearls that glowed like stars during the night. I knew that deep in the heart of Olympus, set in a lush green meadow, was a lake. Naiads slipped in and out the lake with ease and fish, hippocampi, and other creatures of the sea leapt in the waters but no human, including demigods, could go more than an inch or two beneath the surface; you could walk out on the water like it was solid concrete. That was where my old friend Bessie, the opheotaurus, was staying these days.

I stepped out onto the flagstone pathway which led up to the mountain. I admired Annabeth's work on my way up the mountain. As I approached the summit, I stopped at the temple she had designed for Poseidon. From a distance, it looked a lot like my cabin at camp. Long, low, and built out of a light grey stone with fossils from the sea embedded in the rock. As I got closer to it, I thought my eyes were playing tricks on me. The daylight seemed to be fading but it was still the middle of the day. I got to the bottom of the steps that led up to the temple and gasped. The light from all around me was nearly gone—just like it was when I was really deep underwater—I really wanted to know how Annabeth had made that happen—but the temple was glowing from the inside with a soft light. I went up the stairs and saw the inside of my dad's temple.

It was simple and not overly ornate, just like he was. Pillars lined the two long side walls and at the other end was a statue of my dad, Poseidon in full Greek battle armour. He was sitting on his coral throne looking straight at me. In one hand he held his trident, the symbol of his power, which flickered with an unearthly green light. The statue must have been made out of celestial bronze because it glowed with a bit of an aura. The floor of the temple was glass and underneath it was a coral reef with all the colour of the ocean. Dozens of species of fish and other sea creatures swam in and out of the rocks and plants. Other than the glow of the statue, the only light in the temple came from lights hidden in the bottom of the ocean scene. They cast the whole temple in a watery light like a great underwater grotto. I was impressed. I said a quick prayer to my dad, I was going to need all the luck I could get, and continued up the mountain.

When I got to the top, I passed between the statues of Zeus and Hera at the doors of the great hall of the gods and entered a room with twelve enormous, empty thrones arranged in a U-shape around a large fire. I walked down between the two sides of the 'U,' smiling in greeting to the Lady Hestia at the hearth. Today she chose to appear as a grown woman in brown robes. She nodded back with a small smile. I had not told anybody why I was coming but I had a feeling Hestia knew. Ever since I met her just before the Battle of Manhattan, I noticed that she was around all over the place. Very little ever happened that she did not know about. I stopped at the centre throne and bowed, in reverence to Zeus. It was not really required since he was not here but you never knew if he was watching. Then I walked back and stopped at an elegant throne carved out of white marble with streaks of blue in it. I knelt in front of it and waited. I hoped I was not waiting for nothing.

I wasn't. I felt a rush of air and saw a pair of huge feet in front of me. I decided it would be best to be at my most respectful so I waited to look up until I was invited to do so. It felt like forever before I was acknowledged.

"Perseus Jackson," said a strong voice from above me. I looked up to meet the gaze of Athena, goddess of wisdom and strategy and not a big fan of my dad (and therefore not a big fan of me). She held my gaze for a long moment but said nothing. Finally she said, "I am only here as a favour to my brother, Dionysus. I do not know what you did to get him to ask me to meet you but I am here." I hid a small smile. Over the years I had learned that Dionysus liked people to think he was a stuck up, spoiled brat but he was actually a pretty nice guy underneath it all. It really had not taken much "convincing," all I had had to do was give Dionysus a reason to help me other than just being nice. I had threatened to tell everybody that Dionysus once told me that the gods needed heroes.

I took a big breath. "Lady Athena," I started, "I thank you for taking the time to meet me. I know you must have much more important things to deal with than—"

"Stop." She rolled her eyes. "If you want to flatter a goddess into granting you a favour, perhaps you should have called on Aphrodite. But you are right; I do have important business to attend." Athena stood up to leave.

So much for my plan to impress her. I guess should have known better, her being the goddess of wisdom and all. Before she could vanish I blurted out, "I want to marry Annabeth!" I think I genuinely surprised her. I suddenly realized that it was not a good idea to surprise an all-powerful being. She could have accidentally killed me with a stray thought or stepped on me by mistake. Fortunately she simply stared at me and sat back down on her throne to compose herself. Now that I had her attention, I said again, "I would like to formally request your permission to ask your daughter, Annabeth, for her hand in marriage."

"Oh, is that all?" Athena gazed at me intently. "Are you sure that is all? Perhaps while you are at it, you would also like to take Lord Zeus' throne or maybe make the moon shine in the day and the sun at night?" She did not turn me into an insect—this was going better than I thought it would. She took a deep breath. "I suppose I expected this to happen eventually, since my daughter seems able to overlook your faults and put up with you." She paused and seemed to have reached a decision. "Very well, if you wish for my permission you will have to quest for it. I will prepare a quest that will challenge you to the limits of your endurance and beyond. Will you accept it?"

I felt like asking what she thought she could throw at me that was worse than what I had already faced. I had been to the underworld and back twice, sailed the sea of monsters, faced the labyrinth, and barely avoided the destruction of the gods and the whole of Western civilization. Instead I said, "Lady Athena, may I say something?" I took her silence as a 'yes.' "First, if I take a quest I'm sure Annabeth won't let me go without her and she will be placed in equal danger. Second, I doubt any daughter of yours, especially Annabeth, would be happy to be a 'prize' to be won for a quest. I can't accept a quest to win your daughter."

I held my breath, sure that Athena would curse me for daring to challenge her. Instead she smiled. "Very good, young man. My daughter is most certainly not a prize to be won by heroes. If you had accepted the quest you would be one of the training dummies at your camp by now." I gulped. Athena continued, "Perhaps you are not as irredeemable as I thought. But let me ask you this: you do not need the permission of the gods to marry. Annabeth is perfectly capable of making her own decisions. Why have you come to me?"

I had actually thought about this already. I had seriously considered whether or not to ask for Athena's permission and come to the conclusion that I had to do it. "I am asking for your permission because Annabeth wants to be you to be proud of her. I don't want to put her in a position where she would have to choose between pleasing you and being with me."

The answer seemed to satisfy Athena but she still hesitated. I knew that she did not want her daughter to marry a son of Poseidon and it infuriated me that Annabeth and I should suffer because of a millennia-old feud between our parents. I was about to say something about it when there was a rush of air and I suddenly smelled roses in the air. From my left an overly-dramatic voice said, "Reeeeeeeally, Athena, would you just get over your argument with Poseidon, already? It's sooooooooo tiresome and the children are obviously in love. Isn't it just TOO sweet?"

I looked over and saw Aphrodite had appeared in her throne. She was wearing a dress that was a deep red with gold threads woven through it and a garland of red roses in her hair. I felt my knees going weak just at the sight of her. I hated that the gods could do that to me. Some of them messed with your head just by being near you. I shook my head and did my best only to think about Annabeth.

"Sweet?" Athena glared at the other goddess. "I should have known you were behind this, Aphrodite. You are always sticking your nose into other gods' business."

Aphrodite produced a mirror out of thin air and ignored Athena, preening and fixing her makeup. "Hmph," she sniffed, 'I hardly had to do anything at all. They found each other all by themselves. Maybe they're just _wise_ enough," she emphasized the word 'wise,' "to see that their parents' silly feud is not worth giving up their happiness."

Athena looked like she wanted to strangle Aphrodite. Her grey eyes flashed bright with anger. "Oh, really! I would like to see what you would think of another god meeting his girlfriend in one of YOUR temples…" Athena pretended to remember something. "Oh, wait…I forgot, they would probably find you and Ares already there!"

Aphrodite's cheeks turned as red as her dress. She wasn't embarrassed, I realized, just angry. She stood up and her mirror fell to the ground and shattered into a hundred pieces. She started shouting at Athena in ancient Greek and I got totally lost. I am pretty good with conversational Greek and the sort of stuff you might need in battle but I never learned the, uh, the more "colourful" expressions that I assumed the goddesses were using. Athena stood as well and soon they were toe-to-toe, nose-to-nose in each other's faces. I think they forgot I was even there. I backed up a bit so they did not accidentally step on me. As I backed up there was suddenly a roar behind me.

I turned around in shock and saw the fire shooting up over fifty feet towards the ceiling. Hestia stepped out of the fire, suddenly twenty feet tall like the other two goddesses, and shouted, "_OTAMATAO!_" loud enough to be heard over both of them. I think that's Greek for "STOP!" I had never seen Hestia appear in a giant form before and she looked fairly intimidating with her eyes glowing a dangerous colour of red, almost like Ares' eyes did. Athena and Aphrodite must have thought she looked intimidating, too, or were at least too surprised to continue arguing because they both shut up.

"Listen to yourselves," said Hestia, "bickering like little children. Athena, you should be happy that your daughter—if she accepts Percy's proposal—has found someone that makes her happy. Together Annabeth and Percy have saved your own life and the lives of all the gods…is that not worth forgiving old grudges?"

Athena looked down at me. Aphrodite waved her hand and the pieces of her mirror vanished off the ground. Athena spoke. "Very well, Perseus Jackson. You have proved yourself a worthy hero and I will grant you my permission to ask Annabeth for her hand—" my heart leaped and I knew I had on a big sloppy grin, "—on one condition."

Uh-oh. "What is the condition?"

"I want an apology from your father," she said, "for what he did with Medusa in my temple."

It was all I could do to keep from groaning out loud. "What if he won't do it?" I asked.

Athena smiled grimly, "Then you do not get my permission."

I hardly had any choice. I straightened and looked Athena in the eye, "I will speak to my father."

Aphrodite clapped her hands with glee. "It's been so long since we had a demigod wedding," she gushed. "You have to have it here on Olympus, it'll be grand!"

"But, my mother and Annabeth's dad," I started to say. I knew no mortals were allowed on Olympus and my mother would not be happy if she could not come to my wedding. "They can't—"

"Pish-posh," interrupted Aphrodite with a dismissive wave of her hand. "I'm sure on such a special occasion we can make an exception for a few mortals." Athena raised an eyebrow and gave Aphrodite a sceptical look. "It would only be for a day. I'm sure Zeus won't mind." Athena cleared her throat pointedly and I heard distant thunder rumbling. Aphrodite heaved another dramatic sigh. "All right, all right, we'll have it in one of the wild places. There's one in Central Park that is still hidden from the mortals. That should do nicely. Oh, there's so much to plan! I'll have Demeter grow food for the reception and Hephaestus can create the most amazing decorations if he's not too upset with me." She looked back to me, "Don't worry about a thing, I'll handle everything. Do you think next Saturday will be good?" I started to say I had not even asked Annabeth yet, much less actually got Athena's permission but Aphrodite cut me off. "Oh, of course it will be fine. I have to dash. So much to do. Ta!" She began to glow and I looked away to avoid being burned by her true divine form. When the glow was gone all that was left was a flurry of rose petals which drifted to the ground and dissolved in puffs of gold light.

I looked back to Athena. "If I can't convince my dad to apologize, and there isn't a wedding, she's never going to forgive me, is she?" I heard stifled laughter behind me and turned around to see Hestia, back to a normal human size, trying not to laugh.

"I feel sorry for you, young hero," Athena said. "It would appear you have until next Saturday to get your father's apology." I grimaced, that was only nine days away. Oh well, us ADHD kids work better with a deadline anyways.


	2. Chapter 2: Camp HalfBlood

**Chapter 2 – Camp Half-Blood**

I felt more than a little apprehensive as I left the hall of the gods. I was not sure what my dad would do if I asked him to apologize to Athena. I had pretty much got over being afraid he would turn me into plankton or something but asking an all-powerful being to do something for me was always a bit scary even if that all-powerful being happens to be my dad. Actually, _especially_ if he happens to be my dad. Poseidon was required to walk a very fine line, being my dad but not being allowed to show favouritism to me or else he would get in trouble with the other gods. I decided I would not worry about it. Worrying would not accomplish anything or change the eventual outcome. All the same there was a voice in the back of my head which would not shut up that kept telling me I would fail at my task. I tried to ignore it but I felt a headache coming on right between my eyes.

I would have to make a trip to my dad's underwater palace as soon as I could but it was too late to start today. I massaged the bridge of my nose, feeling the headache subside as I decided I did not need to start right away. Besides, today was the first day of summer camp and I needed to get back there. I was still the only resident in cabin 3, Poseidon's cabin, except when Tyson came by for visits, but Chiron expected all the senior councillors to be present for the first day. After graduating high school, I had decided to stay on at camp year-round and Chiron was finally able to give me some proper training during the off-season. "I am glad there is a safe place for all the demigods, now," he always said, "but it's not like the old days when you trained heroes one-on-one." I enjoyed working more closely with Chiron, too. He seemed much more at ease with me now that I did not have a great prophecy of doom hanging over my head.

Not far away from the hall of the gods I found a large, flat balcony. If I had been in a regular office park, I would have said it was probably used as a helicopter pad but I knew better. I walked to the edge and, putting my fingers to my lips, I gave a loud whistle. I looked into the clouds below me. If I focused really hard, I could almost make out the streets of Manhattan below me. Then I saw a black dot in the mist. It quickly grew larger and soon I could make out the form of a black pegasus flying up to me.

_Hey, boss,_ I heard in my head, _Good to see you!_

"Glad you could make it, Blackjack," I replied. Blackjack set down on the balcony and I hopped aboard his back.

_Back to camp, boss?_

"You bet. We've gotta get back before dinner tonight or we'll get a lecture from Chiron."

_You mean _you'll_ get a lecture. I'll get apples and hay no matter when I get there._

"Well you'd better get me back before dinner or I won't be bringing you any sugar cubes for dessert."

_Right, boss! _Blackjack ran to the edge of the balcony and jumped over the railing like a horse in a steeple chase. He tucked his wings in close to his side and took a nose dive straight down. I loved this part. Together we shot down the side of Olympus, temples, monuments, and statues streaking by and the air whipping hair around my face. We had hardly jumped off before we reached the bottom of the mountain and the fog began to close in around us. We kept descending and soon I could not even see Blackjack's ears in front of me. Suddenly we burst out of the fog and Manhattan lay stretched out below us. Blackjack spread his wings, gently slowing our descent and set a course for Long Island keeping high to avoid being seen by any mortals.

As we approached camp from the air I told Blackjack to set us down at Thalia's pine tree. Thalia's spirit was not in it anymore but it was hard to stop calling it "her" tree. At the crest of the hill I stopped for a moment to say hi to Peleus, the camp's guardian dragon. Blackjack sauntered down to the stables for his hay and apples as I scratched Peleus' golden-scaled neck and said nice things to him. I looked down into the valley and looked over the camp. It was May, the end of the school year, and campers were flooding in for the summer. One of the camp's white vans was just pulling up and unloading another batch of demigods.

Chiron had been trying to teach me to work around my ADHD. "It is a great asset to you in battle," he told me, "but the rest of the time it can make you overlook important details." I leaned back against the tree and closed my eyes just listening to the distant sounds of camp gearing up for another summer. I could dimly hear pipe music that the satyrs were playing in the strawberry fields and wondered if Grover would be here. Wheels ground on gravel and an engine roared to life as the van pulled out, probably going back to Manhattan for more campers.

I heard the beating of wings above me and looked up. A white pegasus flew overhead making for the Big House. I had to laugh a little bit. That would be our oracle, Rachel Elizabeth Dare, arriving. Any of us would have picked her up and brought her to camp but she preferred to keep her own pegasus and fly to camp. She liked to be a little rebellious. Rachel had had to spend the school year at some expensive college her father wanted her to attend. She was enjoying it, majoring in art and theatre, but she always came back to camp every chance she got. She did not get along really well with her dad and preferred the company of friends.

I had not seen Rachel since Spring Break last March and wanted to know how she was doing. I figured I had sat still long enough so I got up and headed down the hill towards camp. I only got halfway down before I saw Rachel running up the hill to meet me, her red hair bouncing behind her in the wind.

"I saw Blackjack coming from this direction," she said breathlessly, "so I figured you must be behind him." Rachel gave me a big hug and then held me at arm's length. "Well?" she asked with obvious excitement.

I feigned innocence. "Well what?"

Rachel rolled her eyes. "What did Athena say? Did she give you permission?" Rachel's tendency to know things I thought I had kept secret had long since stopped surprising me. As the Oracle of Delphi, she only had major prophesies when campers were leaving on quests or, every once in a while, randomly out of the blue. But she had gained remarkable insight into everything going on around her, particularly the lives of her friends. So since she was really good friends with both Annabeth and me, we had no secrets from her.

"She didn't say no," I managed with a weak smile.

Rachel eyed me suspiciously. "That doesn't mean she said yes." I sighed and told her what had happened. She looked at me with something that looked like a mix of awe and sympathy. "So you have to get your dad to apologize to Athena," she said.

"Yup."

"By next Saturday."

"Yup."

"Or Athena won't give you and Annabeth her blessing and Aphrodite will probably turn you into a squirrel in Central Park."

"That about sums it up."

Rachel grinned. "So everything's pretty much normal."

I could not help laughing. "Yeah, I guess it is, isn't it?" We chatted about our summers and what she had missed at camp since Spring Break as we walked back toward the camp.

"Chiron will want to see me," Rachel said when we got to the Big House, "now that I'm back." She went up the steps and turned back to me. "In case you were wondering, Annabeth is down by the canoe lake." With that she went inside and closed the door after herself. It was good to have her back.

I made my way down to the canoe lake, saying hello to old friends and introducing myself to some new faces as I went. I reached the docks and looked around for Annabeth. I spotted her on a hill by the shore with her notebook. She had probably had some brilliant idea for one of her projects and had to write it down before she forgot it. As I went over to her she was so engrossed in her work she did not even notice me coming. She did not look up when my shadow fell across the page.

"Got a good idea?" I asked.

"Uh-huh," she said, pencilling in some decorative stonework on the side of a building she was drawing.

I turned my head and looked at what she was drawing. "Your mom's temple?"

"Uh-huh."

I loved watching her work. It had taken a long time before she ever let me see anything she was working on before she was done with it. I sat down beside her on the grass and watched as she finished the details on her drawing. Her long blond hair was tied in a pony tail behind her head to keep it out of her face as she drew. I put my arm around her shoulder and began to play with her pony tail. She frowned but did not pull her head away.

"There," she said as she slid her pencil into the side of her notebook. She held the notebook out so we could both look at it.

"Finished?" I asked.

She looked at me and suddenly I was lost in her bright, grey eyes. "Not finished," she said, "But it's at a good stopping spot. I saved my mom's temple for last so I would have time to work on it instead of being distracted by a thousand other projects."

I looked back to the notebook. "It looks amazing." Annabeth smiled at the compliment. "You're kind of brilliant, you know."

Annabeth leaned forward and lightly kissed me. "Well, one of us has to be brilliant, seaweed brain."

"Right," I smiled, "I forgot." I kissed her again and one of the younger campers, a son of Hermes, I think, down by the shore yelled something about getting a room. Out of nowhere a wave rushed across the lake and crashed on the shore, drenching the camper. I have no idea how that could have happened. Really, none. At all.

Annabeth was trying hard not to laugh. "Percy," she scolded. I put on my best not-guilty look. "I missed you," she laughed. "How was your mom?"

"She was fine. She's close to publishing her first book so she's all in a dither and Paul's trying to keep her feet on the ground. Did I miss anything big here at camp?"

As it turned out, the last week had been pretty low-key. Apparently the biggest news was that a few of Hephaestus' kids had caused an explosion in the forges. That happened so frequently it was hardly even newsworthy. As I listened to Annabeth I tried to figure out what I should tell her, if anything, about my trip to Olympus. My headache was coming back and I was still trying to decide when a conch horn sounded in the distance signalling dinnertime. We went together across the camp to the big dining pavilion. We went to our separate tables, Annabeth joining her brothers and sisters from Cabin 6 and me alone at mine.

It turned out that Grover, who would normally have been at the head table, was not at camp. That was too bad; I would have liked to talk with him. Maybe his girlfriend, Juniper the tree nymph, would know how to get a hold of him. I tried to listen as Mr. D and Chiron gave the typical welcome/welcome-back speeches but it was difficult to pay attention when I had so much else on my mind. Soon it came time to offer a portion of my meal to the gods. I went to the burning brazier and scraped in some of my barbecued pork. _Dad,_ I thought, _Please be in a good mood when I come to talk to you. _The smoke drifted out of the brazier with a remarkably sweet scent but it always did that. I never knew whether my dad was actually listening or not.

After dinner we had our first game of capture the flag for the year. Since we were so much older than the other campers, Annabeth and I and several other senior counsellors did not participate on any team but helped Chiron referee instead. Sometimes it was not easy being an impartial referee. This week Athena, Demeter, Apollo, and Artemis had allied against Ares, Hephaestus, and Hermes (Aphrodite's kids rarely helped in capture the flag and Dionysus' only child, Pollux, was one of the other senior counsellors). Even though all the minor gods and goddesses were recognized and had cabins now, when it came to alliances they usually all fell together under whichever one of the Twelve to whom they were most directly related. As I watched the game unfold from above, flying with Blackjack, I saw a major weakness in the Ares team's defences. Much as I would have loved to go in there and help Athena's team win the flag, I had to stay out of the game unless somebody got hurt.

Unfortunately, Athena's team and her allies did not find the weakness and Ares' team won the night. After the game, all the campers were down at the campfire for the sing-along. Annabeth was busy helping a camper from cabin 6 who had got hurt during capture the flag so I stayed more or less on the edge of the group. I watched the flames flicker and dance, lit up a bright yellow with the joy of all the campers. I looked for Hestia tending the flames, almost invisible just next to the fire, but I could not see her tonight. That surprised me; she was almost always here during our sing-alongs. I turned around and bumped into a young camper, nearly running her over.

"Sorry," I apologized, "I wasn't looking—" I stopped short as the little girl looked up at me with glowing red eyes, filled with the warmth of hearth. "Hestia! But…but you…" I looked back at the campfire where I thought she should have been.

"I am not constrained by the bounds of the fire. I can go where I choose but I rarely have any reason to leave my hearth." I tried not to look as stupid as I felt. Hestia took my arm. "Walk with me, Percy Jackson." I let the goddess lead me away from the bonfire. I saw Chiron notice me leaving and he started to come over to catch me before I left when he noticed who I was walking with. It was hard to tell in the flickering light of the fire but I think he looked pretty surprised.

"Your dilemma weighs heavy on you; I can see that," Hestia told me. "Why do you think that is?"

I stared at the goddess. Why did I think it was? I laughed cynically as I replied, "Oh, I don't know, maybe because I have to reconcile a millennia-old feud between two all-powerful gods or else Athena won't let me marry Annabeth."

"And you have asked Annabeth what her thoughts are on the matter?" Hestia's expression was innocent but she had the same tone in her voice that my mom did when I was missing a really obvious solution to a problem.

"Well…no…but I need her mom's blessing first."

"Why?"

I stopped walking. Hestia turned to look at me. "Why!" I blurted. "Because…because…" my voice trailed off as I realized I did not know why. I thought there were a bunch of good reasons but they all seemed to vanish as I tried to explain them.

"While you were on Olympus did you not say that Annabeth would not want to be won as some kind of prize? Have you so quickly forgotten your own words, young hero?" I had no answer. She was right. How had I not realized what I was doing? Hestia took my arm and we started walking again. "Think back over your quests," Hestia continued, "What was your greatest asset in your journeys?"

It was a no-brainer. I did not even have to think as I answered, "My friends."

"Then look for help from a friend, now, Percy Jackson. I am also the goddess of families. Trust me when I tell you that if you exclude Annabeth from the first steps of a life together, she will hold it against you, even if she does not mean to do so." I looked up and saw that we had circled back to the bonfire. Hestia let go of my arm but before she went back to the fire she gave me one last bit of advice. "Remember, as Annabeth is fond of saying, she 'always, always has a plan.'" With that, she slipped into the crowd to return to her fire.

Chiron cantered over to me. "It is not often that Hestia leaves her fire, my boy. She must have had something very important to tell you."

"It was nothing," I said. Chiron raised his eyebrows. "Well, not camp business at any rate. It was, uh, personal."

"I see," replied Chiron.

"Um, Chiron, I might need to leave camp for while. Soon, maybe tomorrow."

"Well, as you have no other campers in your cabin I think that would be all right."

"I might need to take Annabeth with me."

"I thought you might." I could hear a smile in my mentor's voice.

"You talked to Rachel, didn't you?" I half asked, half accused.

"Of course I spoke with Rachel. She is the oracle and has been gone since March and-"

"I mean about Annabeth and I. You talked to Rachel about, you know, us."

"Well," Chiron looked a little sheepish, "It might have come up. Although I must say I have been expecting it for some time, now. What does Annabeth have to say about all this?"

Now it was my turn to look sheepish. "I haven't actually asked her yet," I said, looking down at my feet.

"Percy, don't you think-"

"I know, I know," I held up my hands in a gesture of surrender to forestall the impending lecture. "That's what Hestia was just telling me. I was about to go find Annabeth."

"Then, by all means, don't let me keep you." Chiron smiled. "And good luck." He left back to campfire. I turned and left in the opposite direction, dashing into my cabin to pick up something I had brought back from Manhattan. I found the little box in a pocket of my backpack and shoved it into my pants pocket. Then I ran to the infirmary, hoping to catch Annabeth still there. At the infirmary I found out that her camper had just had a minor cut and had been bandaged and sent back to his cabin. I went back over the cabins and caught Annabeth just on her way out of cabin 6.

"Percy," she exclaimed, "I was just coming down to the bonfire."

I linked my arm in hers and drew her away from the crowd. "Why don't we take a walk, instead," I said. "It's a great night for it."

"It's _always_ a great night for it," she pointed out, "we have perfect weather here."

"Then we've wasted a lot of great nights and it would be a shame to waste another." She did not say anything more and fell in step with me as we headed away from the cabins over to the shore of Long Island Sound. We walked down the beach in silence, just listening to the waves break on the shore and the sound of the wind. The moon was full and bright tonight and I could see Annabeth quite clearly beside me.

"Annabeth," my voice sounded harsh against the peaceful backdrop. I stopped, not sure what to say next. Annabeth looked at me and I found my voice again. "Ever since I found out I was a half-blood it seems like my life has been one crazy problem after another."

"That's life for us, Percy."

"I know, but it's hard sometimes. And sometimes," I paused. I was never very good at this sort of stuff. "Sometimes I think that I could never handle my life if I didn't know you were here. In all the wild and crazy stuff that happens to us, you're always right there with me."

"We help each other, you know. I don't know where I would be if it weren't for you. You've helped me through a lot of stuff."

"Annabeth, I'm sure we have more challenges and more 'wild and crazy stuff' coming our way but I know that together we can beat anything. I know that when you're here with me, the future is not so scary."

"Percy, I-"

I cut her off before she could finish. "I love you, Annabeth Chase." I reached into my pocket and pulled out the little box, opening it to reveal a ring. "And I want very much to marry you." For just a moment neither of us said anything. Annabeth looked at me, then at the ring, then at me again and I looked at her. Then she threw her arms around my neck.

"Yes!" she said, "Yes, yes, yes!" And then, pulling me tighter she softly said, "Of course I will, seaweed brain." She gently kissed my cheek. "Because I love you, too." She held out her left hand and I slid the ring onto her finger. It was made of white gold in the shape of a great ocean wave. Set with sapphires so perfectly faceted that they shimmered in the moonlight like they were actually liquid rather than solid. The crest of the wave was formed out of mother-of-pearl and reached up to grasp a single, flawless diamond in its foamy embrace. Annabeth held it close to her face and studied it. "Percy," she gasped, "It's…it's beautiful…where did you…"

"It was my mother's," I answered her. "Poseidon gave it to her before I was born. When I told her I was going to propose, she insisted I take it." I wanted to just stay there on the beach with my love forever but I knew life had to move forward. "There's something else I need to tell you." I told Annabeth about my trip to Olympus and everything that had transpired from it. She listened intently until I had finished.

"I guess I never expected Mom to take it easy on us." I felt a rush of pride and joy when she said 'us' instead of 'you.' "We don't have much time; if we're going to talk to your father, we'd better take off first thing tomorrow."

"I got Chiron's permission," I told her. "We can leave whenever we're ready."

"I don't suppose there's any chance you can just ask your dad to come visit camp?"

I frowned. "I was pretty lucky Dionysus was able to get a hold of your mom. I've never been able to get a hold of my dad unless he wants to talk to me."

"Can you even get me to your dad's palace?" she asked. "It's pretty deep under water. Not to mention," she added with a wry smile, "It's underwater. That may not be a problem for you, but me…" she let the question hang in the air.

"I don't know," I admitted. "I've never tried to carry anybody else that deep before. When I go, I can just make the ocean carry me but I'll have to make sure you have air and won't get crushed by the pressure. I have a few ideas on how to manage that. Once we get there I hope my father can do something about the whole underwater issue. But I don't really know." I didn't mention that if, by some miracle, all of those problems were solved she still wouldn't be able to see anything because there is no light down that deep. "Are you sure you want to come?"

There was no hesitation when she replied. "Absolutely. We face the future together, remember?"

I took Annabeth's hand and repeated, "Together."


	3. Chapter 3: The Sea

Time to put up chapters 3-5 so you can get the rest of the story. Kudos to those who spot the homage to Homer in this chapter.

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**Chapter 3 – The Sea**

When I returned to my cabin that night to sleep, I had trouble relaxing enough to get any rest. For one thing, my stupid headache refused to go away. I figured a good night's sleep would help with that but I kept turning over the events of the day in my head. I was nervous about talking to my dad, excited about heading off on a new quest, thrilled that Annabeth had said yes, and way too wired to sleep. I lay in my bunk for a while, tossing and turning waiting for sleep to claim me. Before long my confrontation with my dad was all I could think about. Confrontation? I frowned at my use of the word. It shouldn't be a confrontation, just a talk. _You're being silly, Percy,_ I told myself. _Poseidon loves you and he's always been nice to you…everything will be fine._

Even as I reassured myself I felt the pain begin to grow between my eyes. I groaned, more in frustration than pain. I got up and soaked a rag in the fountain I kept in the corner of the cabin. It did not look as impressive as the one that used to be there, which had been a gift from my dad, but I thought it was nice. Besides, it was handy to have a little rainbow in the room when I needed to send Iris messages. I laid back down and put the cool, damp rag on my forehead. I closed my eyes and felt the pain in my head subside a little bit. It felt like I had only just lain down when I opened my eyes and saw the first rosy fingers of the dawn peeking over the hills.

I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes and ambled to the window, enjoying the sunrise. I thought about the journey that lay ahead of me and I began to plan how I was going to take Annabeth down into the depths of the ocean. Making sure she had air was the easy part; there was lots of air in the water and I knew I could bring it all together into a bubble without any trouble. What worried me was the pressure. I knew that the pressure at the depths of Poseidon's palace was so great that a normal human would be crushed and compacted to the size of a soda can without some form of protection. As I was debating how I could best keep the pressure constant I was overcome with concern.

What was I thinking? I was risking the life of the woman I loved. There had to be a better way than this. Along with my worry I felt a familiar pain blossoming behind my forehead. My headache was already back with a vengeance; it was no longer a dull ache but a rather sharp pain focused right between my eyes. I put aside my concerns long enough to go down to the meeting tent for a quick breakfast of bread and dried fruit. My headache was not as bad when I could get my mind off of what I had to do. I figured it must be a stress headache.

After breakfast I grabbed my pack from cabin 3 and went down to the shore and met Annabeth, who was already geared up and ready to go. Like me she did not carry much since we did not expect to be gone very long. We each had a bit of food as well as some bandages and a bit of nectar and ambrosia. We were not bringing the medical supplies because we expected any trouble but we had learned it was foolish to leave camp without them. Annabeth smiled when she saw me coming.

"Ready to go, seaweed brain?" she asked when I got to where she was waiting. I nodded and tried to look confident but she knew me too well. "What's wrong?"

"I'm just worried about you. I've never tried to carry anyone on such a long trip or take them so deep before." I massaged the bridge of my nose. "And this stupid headache won't go away. Whenever I try to concentrate it only gets worse."

Annabeth stood on tiptoe and gently kissed the bridge of my nose. "We could wait. We don't have to do this now."

"No," I said, "Let's go. Getting out and doing something will help get my mind off the headache."

"All right, then." She shouldered her pack and we waded out into the ocean. I felt the familiar surge of strength that the ocean always gave me. My headache even began to ebb a little as the power of the ocean surged through me. I put my arm around Annabeth's shoulder and drew her close. The ocean must have been freezing, although it felt fine to me. As the water grew deeper we stopped wading and began to swim until we were far out from shore.

I touched Annabeth's arm. "This is far enough." She stopped swimming and started to tread water. I came around in front of her and took her hands in mine. "Ready?" I asked. "Last chance to change your mind."

"Ready." Her tone of voice told me that she wasn't going to change her mind. Her steely determination couldn't help but remind me of her mother and for a moment I was dumbstruck that such an awesome girl could like me. She stopped treading water and took a deep breath. I came out of my reverie and concentrated on the water as we slowly began to sink. I drew all the air in the surrounding water to me and as we sank into the water a sphere of breathable air formed around us. The water closed over us, a few inches above our heads. As long as I held on to Annabeth I could keep her with me right in the centre of the bubble.

I looked at Annabeth. "So far, so good. Are your feet going to be okay? We've got quite a trip ahead of us." Our feet were dangling just outside of the bubble of air and I was afraid that such a long exposure to the cold water might be painful for her.

"I thought ahead," she told me with a smile. "Daughter of the goddess of wisdom and strategy, you know." She lifted up the bottom of her T-shirt and I saw that she was wearing a wetsuit underneath.

I laughed. "I should have known better than to doubt you." I concentrated on the ocean currents and collected them around the bubble. We began to move. Pretty soon we were zipping along at a fast clip, headed out to sea. I wished that Annabeth could breathe underwater like I could so she could have felt the water rushing past as we ploughed through the ocean. As it was, inside the bubble there was hardly any sensation of motion.

While we travelled, I explained my plan to Annabeth. "I'm not taking us too deep right now, just deep enough to avoid being noticed by any commercial ships we might run near. Once we get above my dad's palace, I hope we can just let gravity pull us right down. That way I can concentrate solely on keeping the pressure inside the bubble steady without worrying about what direction we're going. Once we start dropping, I'm going to need you to tell me if the pressure starts to get too much."

"How are you going to keep the pressure down?"

"As we descend, the water is going to press the bubble smaller and smaller. I'll try to push out the bubble without adding any more air to it."

Annabeth nodded her understanding. "If you can keep the bubble the same size all the way down, then the pressure inside will stay constant."

"Right."

"Percy," Annabeth said with a worried frown, "Can you do that? I mean, you've never tried to control that much water before have you?"

"No, that's why I need you to tell me when the pressure gets too high. I don't want to push the bubble any more than I have to. Even so, we may not be able to get all the way to the bottom. If you start to have trouble breathing, I'll bring us back up to the surface. It's the only plan I have, though. If it doesn't work, then we'll have to put our heads together and see if we can come up with something else." With our course of action set, we watched the ocean life pass around us.

"Percy, have you thought about what you're going to say to your dad?"

I grimaced a little. "There's really no easy way to bring it up. I figure I'll just tell him what Athena wants and hope he's willing to apologize. I mean, after two thousand years, you'd think he'd be tired of the argument anyways."

"Don't be so sure. If I've learned anything about the immortals it's that they really like to hold their grudges."

"You don't need to remind me," I pointed out, "Remember Ares?"

"Right. All I'm saying is that maybe you could put a spin on it that would make your dad a little more willing to give in."

"Like what?"

"Well, even if they won't admit it, it IS easier for all the gods when they get along but both our parents are too proud to apologize." I smiled, remembering the days when it was only Poseidon who she would have accused of being stubborn. Things had changed. "But our wedding is an excuse for Poseidon to acquiesce to my mom without losing face. See, Percy, he'd be doing it for us not Athena. Get it?"

I had to admit it did sort of make sense. "Hestia was right," I said.

"What? When did you talk to Hestia?"

"Last night at the campfire. I didn't think I should tell you about your mom's condition but Hestia convinced me otherwise."

"Perseus Jackson, I can't believe you weren't going to tell me!" Annabeth's voice was mock-angry but her expression looked more like she found my ineptness funny. I wasn't sure what to say so I just said I was sorry. "Well I'm glad someone talked some sense into you," Annabeth replied.

With the ocean carrying us along, we soon arrived at the spot more than a mile directly above my dad's underwater palace. There was nothing special about the spot, no landmarks, no land for that matter, to be seen anywhere but I knew exactly where we were. I stopped the currents around us and the bubble came to a stop. I looked at Annabeth and she looked back at me and smiled encouragingly. "I trust you, seaweed brain."

"And I love you, wise girl." I turned my attention back to the air surrounding us in the bubble and got ready to start the descent. "Tell me if you start to feel any pain in your ears." We started to sink and gradually I noticed the bubble beginning to shrink around us.

Annabeth worked her jaw like she was trying to pop her ears. "I don't think I can take much more pressure, Percy."

I gathered my strength and got ready to push back the water. Before I could try to expand the bubble, pain blossomed between my eyes. I cried out in pain. It felt like someone was trying to drill right into my skull. I couldn't bear it. Suddenly all I could think about was everything that could go wrong. I saw all the horrible scenarios played out vividly in my mind's eye. Annabeth is crushed by the weight of the ocean. Annabeth suffocates deep beneath the water's surface. Annabeth bleeds to death because I let the pressure get too high. Over and over again I saw her die and the pain in my head kept growing worse and worse. The harder I tried to push the terrible images from my mind the more my head hurt. I was aware that Annabeth was trying to calm me down but I could not focus through the haze of pain and panic to answer her. I felt my control of the bubble slipping away from me and tried to keep it intact around us. It was too much for me. I grabbed my head in hands and screamed. Even as I did it I realized it was the worst thing I could have done.

When I let go of Annabeth, she dropped out of the bubble. Desperately I grabbed for her but it was too late. I let go of the air and the bubble disappeared from around me. The threat to Annabeth was enough to break through the haze and I looked around frantically for Annabeth but she was no where to be seen. How far were we from the surface? Could she swim to the surface before she ran out of breath? Above I spied the shadow of a small boat on the surface. A boat? It looked like a large-ish personal craft. We were more than a hundred miles out from the nearest island and even further away from any significant land mass—what was a boat like that doing out here?

I hoped with all my heart that Annabeth had been able to get to the surface in time. I shot up to the surface and looked around. The boat, it was a nice-looking yacht, was close by and I swam over to it, hoping that they had picked up Annabeth. I tried to read the boat's name but it was in a fancy cursive writing that did not help my dyslexia. It looked something like "Scone Fair" but I knew that couldn't be right. When I got to the yacht, two men on board, threw me a rope and helped me into the boat. They looked like they were just a little bit older than me, in their early twenties.

"Thanks," I said, a bit out of breath. "Did you pick up anyone else? A girl my age?" I looked around the deck but I didn't see Annabeth. My heart sank. I was too late.

"Sorry," said one of them, "but you're the only one we saw." He laughed like a twisted little child. I was furious, how could he laugh when Annabeth had drowned? I looked at them and realized they were twins. The one who had spoken was still giggling maniacally but the other one was sneering at me. That was when I realized why there was a yacht in the middle of nowhere and why they weren't surprised to see someone suddenly pop up out of the water. I had seen that sneer before. I had seen a sneer exactly like that on Ares' face. With a flash of insight I figured out the name of the boat: "Scion of Ares."

"You're sons of Ares," I accused. "You just killed my…my…" I couldn't say it. _My love,_ I finished in my head. As the realization of what had happened set in my confidence and my bluster disappeared and I fell to the floor of the boat, numb to everything around me.

"Awww," said the one who was still giggling, "we've hurt him. Isn't that terrible of us?"

"Father will be proud," said the other. The first one had a silly, high voice and sounded like a spoiled child but this one had his father's voice. Low and cruel.

"Very proud," agreed the first who had managed to get his giggling under control. "But where are our manners? Introductions: I'm Phobos."

"And I am his twin brother, Deimos," said the second. "But you probably know us better as Fear and Terror."

My anger flared up white hot inside of me. "How could you!" I yelled in their faces. I felt hot tears on my face but I could not keep them back. "How could you! It's me Ares hates, not her!" Neither of the twins answered me. Phobos simply reached out and touched my forehead. Pain shot through my skull. I was aware of nothing but the searing, unending pain in every corner of my mind. I doubled over and retched over the side of the ship but the pain did not go away. I stumbled forward trying to draw Riptide, my sword disguised as a ballpoint pen, from my pocket but there was nothing I could do. I lost my balance and stumbled over the side of the ship. As I fell into the water my vision narrowed, blackening at the edges.

_At least,_ I thought as my vision narrowed to a pinpoint, _I won't feel the pain anymore. _Then I had no thoughts at all.


	4. Chapter 4: Poseidon's Realm

This is probably my least favourite chapter in this story. Chapter 1 practically wrote itself and the major flow of the story was clear to me from the get-go but I ran into terrible writer's block with this chapter. I think it is about as good as I am going to get it, though, and I need to go ahead and post it before I tweak it to death. On another note, I know some of my readers may never forgive me for what I do to Poseidon but I never liked him looking like a beach bum in Bermuda shorts and Hawaiian shirt so I took some artistic license and make no apologies for doing so.

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**Chapter 4 – Poseidon's Realm**

"Percy, what are you doing?"

I sat up, confused. I blinked. I looked around me. I was in a meadow. I recognized it; it was the meadow back at camp. The flowers were blooming all around me, I smelled strawberries from the fields below, and I saw dryads chasing each other in the woods. As I grew more alert I remembered. Phobos. Deimos. Annabeth. Oh, my gods…Annabeth.

"Percy," the voice again, "WHAT are you doing?"

The voice came from behind me. I turned around and saw my best friend, Grover. "Grover," I said, "What are you doing here? Oh, no…you're not dead, too, are you?"

Grover looked confused. "Dead? Ummm, Percy-"

"This can't be the underworld, though," I said. "I haven't been judged. I never had sentence passed on me."

"Percy! You're not dead."

"Oh, I'm dead, all right," I said. "I know I'm dead."

"No," Grover insisted, "You're not. If you were dead, our empathy link would have died with you." Of course, the empathy link. That was why Grover was here. "Percy, you're not dead but I know something's wrong. Two days ago I got a splitting headache and ever since then I haven't been able to sense you on the other end of our link. I was afraid you were dead but today you were suddenly there again."

"Grover, it's…" my voice broke and I tried to continue. "It's Annabeth. She's…Phobos and Deimos, they…they…" I broke down and started sobbing. "She's gone, Grover."

Grover started to tear up, too. He liked Annabeth almost as much as I did. "Percy, I'm so sorry. Juniper told me that you and Annabeth were engaged. I'm sorry. But, Percy, you can't give up right now. You have to do something." He tried to get me look at him. "Percy, you have to wake up."

I looked up at him, "What?"

"Wake up, Percy." Grover wasn't speaking with his voice anymore. It was…it sounded like… "Percy!" he was more insistent now, "Wake up!" It was Poseidon's voice! I looked at Grover in confusion as the meadow faded into blackness around us. Grover seemed to be getting further away from me even though he wasn't moving.

My eyes snapped open and Grover was gone. I was lying on my back in a bed and looking up into my Dad's face. He looked really concerned but I could tell he was happy that I was awake. "Oh, Percy," he grabbed me in a great big bear hug. I was in 'my' room in Poseidon's palace. Not that I got to come down to visit too often, but Poseidon insisted I should have a room to call my own when I was there.

"Hi, Dad," I said. "Dad, you're going to break my ribs."

"Sorry." He let go of me. "I'm just glad you're all right." I almost laughed but my heart hurt so much it felt like I could never laugh again. Then I noticed that my dad looked different than usual. Normally he wore Bermuda shorts and a Hawaiian shirt, like some tropical fisherman. Now he was wearing a worn blue overcoat with dark blue pants and a cream-coloured turtleneck. On top of it all he wore a slouch cap. He looked exactly like the salty old captains of the fishing boats my mom and I had seen in Maine once.

"You look, um, different."

"What do you think?" he asked. "Amphitrite thinks it makes me look more dignified."

"It's nice," I said. And I meant it. It did look more dignified. "Dad," I started to cry again, "Annabeth-"

"Shh, Percy, shhh." He hugged me again. "I know. Two days ago you fell to the ocean floor, unconscious and practically on my doorstep. This fell with you." Poseidon held out his hand and something glinted in his palm. I picked it up and realized that it was the ring which he had given my mother and I had given to Annabeth. Despair stabbed at my heart when I saw the ring. "I contacted Chiron and got the whole story. You should be glad your satyr friend made an empathy link with you. Without it, I doubt that you should ever have woken up."

"You're the reason Grover could contact me again aren't you?"

"It was touch and go for a while. I wasn't sure if you were going to make it but once your mind was stable enough I gave your link a little push. Contact with another conscious mind was all you needed."

I wasn't sure what to say. Part of me wished Poseidon had just let me die but I knew I couldn't tell my dad that. Even if he already knew it. "Thanks, Dad," I said.

"Percy, I wish I could stay but-"

"You're leaving!" I was almost shouting. Right now I was afraid to be alone. I was almost frantic that I shouldn't be alone. "No, no, I don't want you to go. I-"

"Percy, Athena is bringing Ares before Zeus to answer for what his sons did. I have to be there to…to…" now Poseidon was beginning to choke up. "I almost lost you, son. I can't just let that go." He smiled and patted my shoulder, "Don't worry, you won't be alone." He stood up and opened the door, my half-brother Tyson, a Cyclops, was waiting on the other side.

"Percy! So good to see you!"

Poseidon started to glow. "I'll be back when this is taken care of, Percy." Tyson and I looked away and Poseidon disappeared in a flash.

"Percy, you are crying." I couldn't talk to Tyson about Annabeth. He liked her too much and I had to think about something else.

"It's okay, big guy," I said. "It's good to see you."

Tyson started telling me about what he had been doing as one of Olympus' generals. He had been keeping pretty busy and had a lot to talk about so I did not have to say much. As Tyson talked I kept fiddling with the ring in my hands. Abruptly Tyson stopped in the middle of a sentence and looked over my shoulder. He got a big smile on his face and his eye lit up, "Rainbow!" Then he looked disappointed. "No. Not Rainbow."

I turned around and looked at the window. _Oh, no,_ I thought, _not now. _There was a hippocampus swimming in through the window. Hippocampi were always asking favours from me whenever I was anywhere near the water. It was annoying under normal circumstances and I was not in the mood for it.

_Lord, _the hippocampus said in my head, _we need your help, lord._

"Look, this is really NOT a good time."

_But-_

"NOT NOW."

_But, lord, the girl will die without help._

"Girl!" I wheeled and ran to the window. "What girl? WHAT GIRL?" My heart was racing a mile a minute. The possibility that Annabeth was still alive wiped all tiredness from my body.

_We found a girl deep underwater, lord. Too deep for her to return above. We hid her in a cave but she cannot leave._

"She's alive? Oh, thank the gods, she's alive?" I turned to Tyson. "I have to go, big guy. If Poseidon gets back before I do, just tell him I've gone to find Annabeth."

Tyson looked a little confused. "Annie Beth is lost?"

"Not for much longer," I said. "We'll be back." Without waiting for his answer I swung onto the hippocampus' back and we took off through the window. "Take me to her. As fast as you can!" We leapt away and sped out of Poseidon's palace. As we tore through the water I silently prayed to every god I knew, and that's quite a few, that Annabeth was all right. I even asked Ares. I figured he would want her alive because then Zeus and Poseidon would go easier on him.

My mount swam up and away from the great palace. I realized we were quickly ascending to a depth where Annabeth would be safe from the pressure. _We found the girl deep underwater, lord, but she was not awake. The surface air was too far away—the girl was trying to breathe the water, she would have died before we got there. _So Annabeth hadn't made it to the surface. _We knew about some closer air, though, a cave. We took her there._

"How long ago was this? When did you find her?"

The hippocampus pondered this question for a while. _I do not know, lord. We waited for the girl to wake up but she sleeps still. _It was all I could do to keep my heart from bursting with the hope that they had found Annabeth soon enough to have saved her. It sounded like she had inhaled water, though. If she was not waking up, that was not a good sign. After about ten minutes we came to a large rock cliff that rose high above the ocean floor. The hippocampus swam straight toward the cliff wall and into a crevice that turned into a tunnel into the rock. We surfaced in a small cavern. I knew there were little pockets like this all over the ocean floor where air got trapped and humans could survive. But since they were airtight, it also meant that someone could only breathe for so long before they ran out of air. I jumped off of the hippocampus and started to look around but my mount called after me.

_I must leave, lord. Can not stay here too long._

"Thank you." I said. "I can handle it from here. Thank you!" The hippocampus turned and dove under the surface. With a flip of its fish tail it was gone. It was way too dark in the cave even for me with my heat-sensitive demigod eyes. There just wasn't enough life in the cave for me to see anything. I pulled out my deadly ballpoint pen and uncapped it. Riptide grew to full size in my hands and I gripped the sword with determination. The celestial bronze gave off just enough of a faint glow that I could see a little. I started to look for Annabeth. There wasn't really any dry land but there were some nooks and crannies in the wall of the cave. I saw someone lying in one that was just big enough for a person. It looked eerily like the underground catacombs I saw on a TV special. I put that image out of my mind and swam over.

Lying in the alcove was Annabeth. My heart stopped for a moment until I realized her chest was rising and falling—she was breathing. Her hair was bedraggled, her face and clothes was smeared with ocean grime, and there was some dried blood around her ears but she was alive. I bent over and kissed her lips. Her eyes fluttered open and met mine. "Percy, you're here!" She tried to sit up and hit her head on the stone above her. "Ow." I helped her out of the alcove and into the water. I couldn't say anything. I was too happy to see her. My mouth kept moving and I was trying to find the words to say but nothing came out. "I knew it," she said, "You've spent too much time in the water and you've turned into a fish."

I laughed and held on to her as though she would be taken away from me again if I let go. I was crying again but I wasn't sad any more. "Percy, you're going to break my ribs."

I loosened my grip on her but I did not let go. "Sorry. Annabeth, what happened to you? The hippocampus said you had inhaled some water and weren't waking up. But," I looked at her, "You look fine. Annabeth, I thought you were dead. Oh my gods, it was the worst thing I've ever felt."

"I don't remember what happened, Percy. I remember we were in the air bubble. You were just getting ready to start our descent when you doubled over and started screaming. You let go of me and…and, well, I fell into the water." I couldn't look at her. I couldn't believe I had let her go. "It's all right, seaweed brain. It wasn't your fault. Besides, I'm okay now. When I fell into the water I cried out in surprise and wasted what little air I had. We were too far down for me to make it to the surface and I blacked out. I think I came around once or twice because I remember being in this cave with a hippocampus but passed out again. After that, all I remember is waking up and were you kissing me."

I held her hands and raised them out of the water. "I think you dropped something," I said. I pulled the ring that had fallen off out of my pocket and slid it back onto her finger.

From behind me I heard a voice that made me sick to my stomach. "Ugh, how sickeningly sweet. I guess we will just have to do better this time." We both jumped and turned around. Phobos and Deimos were standing on the surface of the water behind us. "And this time," Deimos said, "we had better finish you off."

"Percy, who are they?" asked Annabeth.

"They're the ones who made me lose control underwater." I glowered at them with murder in my eyes. "They're the ones who almost killed you." They reached out to touch our foreheads but this time I had Riptide ready. I put Annabeth behind me and swung my sword. Phobos was quick and dodged out of the way but Deimos was not so lucky. The extended index finger on his right hand was lopped off by my strike. Deimos cried out in pain and golden ichor dripped from his hand into the water. To my surprise, Phobos also cried out and clutched at his right hand even though it had no wound. I realized that as godly twins, they must have shared a bond even closer than regular, human twins.

"You think you can fight both of us at once?" growled Deimos. He had a point. I really couldn't hope to beat them and Annabeth didn't have a weapon. But maybe I didn't have to beat both of them. Since they shared pain, maybe I only had to beat one of them. I didn't have time to make any definite strategy because they were recovering quickly and coming at me again. I wasn't sure if the curse of Achilles would protect me against gods but I knew that whether I was protected or not, Annabeth wasn't. I raised Riptide to battle stance in front of me but the godly twins produced their own weapons and shields from out of the ether. I felt their aura trying to influence me with deadly fear and black panic but I quelled it with my concern for Annabeth. They lifted their swords to strike and I braced for the attack but it never came.

I felt a ripple in the water behind me. Phobos and Deimos each took a step back and I risked a glance over my shoulder and saw my dad standing behind me. Poseidon gently nudged me aside so he was standing in the middle with Annabeth and me on either side. Phobos and Deimos looked at each other nervously.

"Did I miss a memo?" growled Poseidon with menace in his voice. "Did Brother Zeus declare open season for demigods?" The twins were looking at each other; I figured they were trying to decide if there was any way they could try to fight Poseidon. "You are no ocean gods," said my father, "You have no right to be down here." Phobos and Deimos started to glow but Poseidon waved his hand and the glow disappeared. "Oh, no. You're not getting away this time. You're going straight to Olympus." He put one hand on my shoulder and the other on Annabeth's. The water began to roil around him until the whole cave looked like a bunch of white water rapids. Phobos and Deimos were just starting to plea for mercy when the water in the cave surged up and submerged us all.

With the water churning as bad as it was, I couldn't see a thing. When the water finally calmed, first I looked over at Annabeth. Apparently Poseidon was protecting her because she was breathing normally despite being underwater. Then I looked over where Phobos and Deimos had been. I thought they had disappeared but then I saw something move. Two little guppies were swimming about in the water. Poseidon roared with laughter. "Hah-hah-hah-hah! Not so dangerous now, are they?" The two guppies spotted the tunnel entrance into the cave and started swimming for it. Poseidon produced a small glass globe from his jacket. Its two halves were hinged and he closed it around the guppies and clicked a small latch into place. "That should do until we get them to Olympus." He looked around the cave. "Where's that hippocampus that brought you here? Left, I suppose, such flighty creatures. Well, I guess I'll just take you back myself."

Without my even realizing it, we were standing in the throne room of Poseidon's underwater palace. Something was different but at first I could not tell what it was. Then I realized, I was seeing, not sensing the room. I looked around and saw that Poseidon had some of the glowing pearls Annabeth had used in the gardens of Olympus set into the walls. Annabeth was looking around, amazed. This was the first time she had seen it, after all. "Wow," she breathed. Always the architect, she could not help wandering around the room taking in everything. I held her hand and walked with her as she went. I still found it difficult to let go of her.

Poseidon sat down on his coral throne and watched Annabeth admiring his throne room. It reminded me of the first time I had been invited to visit my dad's palace once he had rebuilt it. My dad allowed it to get pretty much wrecked during the Battle of Manhattan. Poseidon had personally come to see me and had wanted to show me all the interesting points of the place but a question had kept nagging at me. When we got to the throne room, I finally said, "Dad, I thought you said you were going make everything new and different. This looks just like your first palace did."

Poseidon harrumphed into his beard. "Nonsense. The floor in the throne room is entirely different. And the trim on the towers is turquoise instead of cobalt." I had had to try not to laugh. The immortals do not like change very much.

As Annabeth and I walked by a bank of windows, we ran into a pod of hippocampi swimming in and out through the great panes as though it was some sort of obstacle course, like those defensive driving courses with all the cones they made us go through in Driver's Ed. The hippocampi stopped and looked at us. "Oh," cried Annabeth, "these ones have such pretty green eyes."

A little startled I said, "Annabeth, all hippocampi have green eyes." I looked back at my father but he didn't say anything.

"No, they don't," she said indignantly.

"Yes, Annabeth, they do."

"No, seaweed brain, they don't." Poseidon looked amused but still said nothing. "The one that rescued me when I passed out underwater and took me to that cave had grey eyes."

"Grey eyes?" Annabeth nodded. "Grey eyes," I repeated. I stared at Annabeth and her stormy grey eyes stared back into mine. Stormy grey eyes like her mother had. "Grey eyes…you don't think…"

"You mean, Mom?" Annabeth said.

"Don't be silly, children," said Poseidon. "You know gods can't cross into each others' territories."

"Not really," I said. "They're forbidden to do it, but Phobos and Deimos did anyways."

"And look what it got them," replied my dad gesturing to the globe resting beside his throne. He looked to Annabeth, "Athena couldn't have helped you, my dear," but there was a twinkle in his eye. I had seen that twinkle before and I never knew exactly what it meant. Suddenly I wanted to ask just how he had known to come and find us in that cave but something made me think I shouldn't push the question. Speaking of questions, I remembered that there was a very important question I had come to ask my dad.

I took Annabeth with me before Poseidon's throne. "Dad, just how much did Chiron tell you?" Before he could answer, I had another thought. "Chiron!" I turned to Annabeth. "Annabeth, Chiron and Grover still think you're dead. Cabin 6 is probably making your funeral shroud as we speak."

Annabeth laughed. "Maybe I'd better get a hold of Chiron." She looked to my dad. "Are there any rainbows around here?" She frowned, clearly thinking. "CAN you make a rainbow underwater?"

"Only demigods need to contact Iris through rainbows," replied Poseidon. He held out his hand to one of the Hippocampi swimming around the throne room and it swam up to him. Poseidon patted its flank and must have been giving it mental instructions because it quickly turned around and swam out of the room. My father indicated a door at the far end of the hall. "Go out into the courtyard, my dear. Iris should be along shortly to carry a message for you." Annabeth went in the direction of the courtyard and I watched her leave. As she stepped out Poseidon said, "Be careful you do not go too far from the throne room. Only the public areas of the castle are lit with light that your eyes can see." Once she was out of the room Poseidon said, "You know, that girl can design a fine temple, son."

"I saw it. It's pretty amazing." I blushed and quietly added, "She's pretty amazing."

Poseidon studied me for a long while. I said nothing. "Chiron told me the whole story, including what Athena is requiring of you. Chiron was quite stern with me when he learned of the predicament in which our feud put you and your lovely bride-to-be. If he had been talking to anyone but one of the gods, I think he would have been downright furious." That surprised me, Chiron never got angry. Not really and truly furious, at any rate. I kept quiet. I figured my dad had already made up his mind and at this point there was little I could do to change it. Finally he chuckled, "You are certainly shaking up Olympus, son. It has been ages since any of us, much less one of the elder gods, made a public apology to another."

I looked up, a big smile on my face. "Then, uh, you agree to, um…"

"When Athena brought Ares before Zeus for judgment, I went to Olympus plead on Ares behalf."

The sudden change of subject startled me and I was SURE I hadn't heard right. "You argued on ARES' side?"

"The true instigators, I said, were Athena and I. Our stubbornness put our children in mortal danger. Yes, Percy, I made an apology to Athena in front of the full council of the gods. Even Zeus was surprised."

"So what happened to Ares?"

Poseidon harrumphed into his beard. "Ah, you know how it goes. He claimed no knowledge of what his children were doing, blah, blah, blah. Zeus allowed Ares to get off without punishment. Phobos and Deimos however, are another story." Poseidon glowered at the guppies beside his throne and they swam to the far side of the globe. "These two godlings took direct action against a mortal hero; that's against the ancient laws. These little guys are going to be made mortal for a long while. Ares isn't too happy about that so I would still steer clear of him if I were you."

"Made mortal!" I said in astonishment. "Zeus can do that?"

"Hah! My boy, you should've been around in the good, old days of Greece. Zeus made Apollo work as a mortal slave TWICE for being such an upstart. Things were more interesting back then. Maybe I could convince Zeus to leave them as fish…how would you like a nice aquarium in your room?"

"I have to tell Annabeth," I said, turning to go find her.

"Oh, I'm sure she knows. News like this doesn't take long to spread through the Olympian community. Iris has probably already told her. And Dionysus was there. He's probably already told Chiron." He must have been right because Annabeth burst back into the throne room, running straight for me. She threw her arms around my neck and we spun up towards the ceiling, floating in the deep sea.

"Percy, did you hear?" the look on my face must have said everything because she did not wait for an answer. We spun to a stop facing my father and slowly sank back to the floor. Annabeth bowed and said, "Thank you, Lord Poseidon."

Poseidon held up his hand to stop her. "Don't thank me. You two should never have been put in the middle of our feud." I slipped my arm around Annabeth and Poseidon smiled.


	5. Chapter 5: The Wedding

Last chapter! I like this one much better than the last one but, of course, I am a sucker for happy endings so you decide for yourself what you think. Thanks for sticking with me if you are still reading through to the end. Sharp-eyed readers can find another homage to Homer as well as one to one of my favourite adventure films, _The Princess Bride_, in this chapter. Enjoy!

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**Chapter 5 – The Wedding**

I checked my reflection in the mirror for what must have been the hundredth time in the last hour. "Are you sure I look OK? I feel kind of silly."

"You look fine, Percy," Grover insisted.

I adjusted the chiton over my shoulder, trying to pull it a little further up. "I'm wearing a dress that hardly even covers my chest, Grover." I rolled my eyes and turned away from the mirror. "I'm no where near 'fine.' I wish Aphrodite hadn't insisted on such traditional dress."

Paul Blofis, my stepdad, put a hand on my shoulder. "Actually, consider yourself lucky she made a few modern concessions," he told me in a quiet voice. "If she'd gone totally traditional, I'm afraid you wouldn't even be wearing that chiton."

It took a moment for me to realize what he meant. "You mean—I wouldn't be…I'd wear SOMETHING right?" Paul didn't answer and my cheeks flushed. I turned back to the mirror. "The chiton is good," I stated. "I like the chiton." As awkward as I felt it in it, it was really nice. Athena had made wedding clothes for Annabeth and me out of cloth she had woven with her own hands as a wedding gift. They were bright red and edged in gold. Mine draped down just below my knees and belted at the waist with an elaborate sash.

Grover and I peeked through the curtain that separated us from the public area. We were in a corner of Central Park which I had never even known existed. I probably never would have found it on my own but Grover knew exactly where it was. Calling it a corner does not do it justice, though. It was another one of those times when I could hardly believe the mortals were oblivious to what was going on right in front of their noses. In the middle of a thick forest here was a great meadow which had been separated into two halves with an aisle between them by two rows of ornate Greek marble columns. More columns ran along the outer perimeter of the lawn and ivy twined with red roses was strung overhead. The ivy held up white silk screens that shaded the lawns. One side had been set up with rows of chairs and the other was left empty for the guests who were not well suited to chairs.

At one end of the centre aisle was another large tent like the Grover, Paul and I were in right now. I knew that that was where Annabeth was and I wanted to be there with her. But even though the dress and décor were ancient Greek, the wedding itself was regular American so Annabeth and I were going to be kept separated until we got to the altar. At the other end of the aisle was a large pavilion which was surrounded by twelve large thrones set in a horseshoe shape. The thrones were empty but it was easy to see whom they belonged to. On the right the throne made from grapevines would be Dionysus'. The silver and gold thrones beside that belonged to Artemis and Apollo. A throne of golden wheat decorated with luscious ripe fruit and an ornate throne of white marble belonged to Demeter and Hera. One in from the far left was a plush red velvet throne that looked more like a chaise longue than a throne which had to belong to Aphrodite and the teched out easy chair beside it would be her husband Hephaestus'. The throne that looked like an airline pilot's chair must have been Hermes' and the leather and chrome motorcycle seat beside it was Ares'. The regal-looking white marble throne belonged to Zeus. The symmetry of the horseshoe arrangement was undone on the left side by a grand chair of black obsidian which seemed to have been thrust up from beneath the ground rather than set on top of it. That one was Hades'. In the centre of the thrones, granted central position for this one special occasion, was a throne of red coral and one of white marble streaked with blue on its right. Obviously the thrones of our parents Poseidon and Athena.

I could hardly believe how many people were gathered for our wedding. Aphrodite had had Iris spread the word to everyone in the Olympian community and not many people turned down a godly invitation. Chiron told me that a great many of the people would not have missed the event anyways. Annabeth and I had sort of become celebrities after the Battle of Manhattan. On the chair-less side of the lawn there were a crowd of centaurs (whom Chiron told me never missed any free parties), Tyson and some of his cyclopean brothers, and Briares the hundred-handed one, among others. At the front of the rows of chairs, in front of many demigods from camp and minor gods and goddesses, sat Annabeth's human parents, Dr. and Mrs. Chase. My mom sat next to them with an empty chair beside her.

"I'll be going to join your mother now, Percy," said Paul. "Good luck." Just before he was out of the tent Paul remembered something and came back to me. "You did remember to invite Eris, right, Percy?"

"No, Dad, I _want_ to relive the Trojan War, _again. _Yes, of course I made sure Iris took an invitation to Eris."

Paul grinned, "Just double-checking." He stepped out of the tent chuckling to himself.

Once Paul had left the room I had a few minutes alone with Grover, who was going to be my best man. I felt like I should have something memorable to say but I really couldn't think of anything so I went with, "I can't believe this is really going to happen."

It looked like Grover was as much at a loss for words as I was. He didn't say anything for a while but then he came back with, "Well, you deserve it, Percy. You and Annabeth are so…you know."

"Yeah," I said. "I do."

"It sure wasn't easy for you to get here."

"I just hope there isn't any more trouble."

"Well, I'll try not to accidentally release the power of Pan and scare off all the guests." Then Grover swooned and fell to the floor. I wasn't very worried. There were only a few things that could make Grover swoon like that and since I didn't smell cheese enchiladas, I turned around to say hello to Aphrodite.

"My lady," I said with a bow. "The park looks amazing, thank you."

"You're welcome," she said with demurring grace which I knew was an act but I didn't say anything. Grover stirred and started to get up and I realized that I wasn't getting all lovesick and going weak in the knees like I normally did around Aphrodite. I felt her aura affecting me but it only made me think more about Annabeth. I wondered why that was. Aphrodite must have been reading my thoughts because she answered my question. "It's because you have found true love, young demigod."

I tried to say "True love?" but I guess her aura was affecting me more than I realized. It came out something like, "To blave?"

"Yes," she replied, "True love. I'm afraid from now on you'll have to bask in my magnificence without any magical aid." I let that pass without comment, too. "The ceremony is about to start, are you ready?" I nodded, not wanting to risk my voice again. "Good, if I were you I would make sure that your satyr friend is recovered before you go. The audience will wait for you." As she began to glow Grover and I averted our eyes. We looked up to see rose petals disappearing in little golden puffs.

Grover was back his hooves again. "I'm fine," he assured me. I was going to make a retort to that when I heard singing start in the pavilion. "That's our cue," Grover told me. A dryad pulled the curtain aside and I started to walk across the lawn toward the hearth fire in the centre. There was a chorus of muses off to the side singing the most beautiful a capella music I had ever heard. Grover followed a couple of steps behind me and we halted when we got to the fire where Chiron stood proudly waiting for us. I looked at my mother sitting in the front row. She stopped dabbing at her eyes with her handkerchief long enough to smile at me. She mouthed, "I'm so proud of you." I returned her smile and turned back to the hearth fire. From the flames I saw the face of a young girl with friendly red eyes wink at me.

The air began to hum with energy. Thirteen beams of pure light came down from the sky and struck the thrones. With a flash of light and a thunderclap the Olympian councilmembers appeared in their thrones. I looked at all of them and most of them smiled back at me. Even Ares only gave me an indifferent stare. I saw Poseidon and Athena in the centre on the other side of the fire. My dad's face was split with a big grin and his cheeks were even rosier than usual. His eyes had the twinkle that made him look like he was just about to burst out laughing. Athena looked like the picture of perfect grace except…no, it couldn't be. Athena was gently crying. I looked at her eyes and saw that they were tears of joy, not sorrow, thank goodness. An owl perched on her shoulder rubbed his downy head against her cheek, wiping away the tear that trickled down her face. I looked back at my mom with her handkerchief, then back to Athena with her owl and had to stop myself from laughing out loud. Some things are just universal.

The guests, those seated at any rate, all stood and everybody turned towards the back of the meadow. The curtain on the tent parted and Annabeth's maid of honour, our good friend Thalia, leader of the hunters of Artemis, came out. She was dressed up nicely for the occasion. Instead of her usual punk clothes and chains she wore a close-fitting outfit of forest green, sort of like Robin Hood always wears in old movies except over her pants she had a short skirt and instead of feathered cap she wore a silver circlet, denoting her position among the hunters. As always, she still wore a bronze bracelet on her arm which could become her fearsome shield Aegis at a moment's notice. She walked down the aisle and stopped on the other side of the fire.

Annabeth stepped out of the tent and my heart stopped. She looked beautiful. Athena had combined the look of a Greek chiton with modern bridal fashion with stunning results. Annabeth's dress clasped at her shoulders and flowed all the way to the ground and trailed behind her as she walked. She belted the dress around her waste with a large white belt with ornately designed beadwork. The dress was the same colour as my chiton, bright red, but instead of simply being trimmed in gold it had an elaborate gold pattern embroidered all down the front. Shining gold cord bound the sleeves from her shoulders to her elbows at which point both sleeves and cord fell down in rich folds. Annabeth had tiny yellow roses woven into her blonde curls that matched the long yellow train that fell from her shoulders. And in her hands, Annabeth carried a large bouquet of yellow and red roses set in the midst of sprigs of ivy.

As Annabeth began to walk slowly down the aisle I could not take my eyes off of her. Time seemed to slow; it took an eternity as she slowly drew closer to me. She reached the hearth and handed her bouquet to Thalia. She held out her hands and I took them in my own. I really don't remember much after that. Chiron made a speech, which I'm sure was superb but everything was just sort of blur. I know somewhere in there we must have said our vows because the next thing I knew Chiron told me I could kiss my bride and then Annabeth and I were walking back down the aisle. Everyone was standing and smiling at us and my mind flashed back to the last time Annabeth and I had been the centre of a grand celebration. It was five years ago, just after we had defeated Kronos and saved Olympus. I had seen the three Fates and they had given me a glimpse of a possible future…growing old, withering, dying…alone. The vision I had seen passed through my mind again but it was different this time. I wasn't alone.

I looked into Annabeth's amazing grey eyes and she looked back at me. Maybe she knew what I was thinking. Maybe she just knew me well she could tell what I was feeling. But she knew what was on my mind. She held up my hand and said one word. "Together."


End file.
